Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Google Gets MySpace Display
Google announced a new multi-year deal with MySpace that will re-new the multi-year, search partnership (at likely a much lower rate than before) and add display advertising to the mix -identified in the release as: “Full display ad solutions (including participating in the Google Display Network and DoubleClick Ad Exchange).” After acquiring the assets of Fox Audience Networks, it appears that at least part of (if not all) of the MySpace display inventory did not go Rubicon Project. Read more from PaidContent’s David Kaplan. Also of note in the release is the increasing, public profile of Google’s platform sales maven Henrique de Castro who is driving the deals which span across digital channels – in this case, search and display. Read the release.
OneScreen Adds Video To XA.net
Online video content and ad platform OneScreen and demand-side platform XA.net announced a new partnership that will offer “audience-based online video advertising at scale.” According to the release, One Screen’s in-banner and media player capabilities will be integrated into XA.net’s platform. Read more.
AdKeeper Offers Cash Money
In an interview with Ad Age’s Edmund Lee, AdKeeper CEO Scott Kurnit discusses his company’s ad-banner-keeping technology and boldly challenges Ad Age readers: “I will make an offer of $100 to Ad Age readers for the first person or the first 10 people who find me an ad — they’ll have to capture that with a camera or something — that wouldn’t be more useful to a reasonable segment of the audience if it was kept for later.” Not only is Kurnit giving away $100 (potentially), his company is also providing “keeping” services for free to big brand marketers for 6 months. Keep more here. And, read on Forbes, too.
Michael Learmonth turns the Ad Age spotlight on Ad Summos which he identifies as “an ad network and data provider, but with a big difference: Publishers can see who is bidding what on an ad placement — and can then either accept or reject the buy.” Ad Summos CEO Curt Viebranz shares insights on how his company’s technology works and announces that Forbes.com – opposed to networks in the past – has signed on as a client. Read more on Ad Age. And, read the press release.
Pictela Acquisition Price
Yesterday’s Pictela acquisition price is rumored to be between $20-30 million according to The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Steel. Read more. Seems like a good guess, if not at the high end of a possible range.
Facebook Sales Growing Like Weed
Bloomberg reports that “Facebook Inc., the world’s most popular social-networking service, is likely to generate 2010 revenue of about $2 billion, a larger sum than projected earlier, according to three people familiar with the matter.” And, if three people said it, it MUST be true! Read about Like $$$.
Bring Me To Your Data Scientists
On GigaOm, Ryan Kim says that “Data Scientists” are the latest key positions in start-ups as big data swarms/enables the consumer and the enterprise. A Bit.ly data scientist defines the role: “Someone who can obtain, scrub, explore, model and interpret data, blending hacking, statistics and machine learning. It’s a set of skills that go beyond many existing job titles and it’s increasingly in demand.” Read more.
Attribution Modeling And Print
Forbes has been busy lately. The company also announced a new research project aimed at attribution. From Folio mag, “[Forbes] will work with MediaVest and comScore to measure the direct impact of specific ads within Forbes on driving traffic and engagement to the advertiser’s Web sites.” Read more. Print can survive and thrive if it can prove its cross-channel benefit.
The Battle For Display In Asia
Display advertising is gaining momentum across the globe -including Asia. The Asia Media Journal offers an article, “The Battle For Display,” which looks at Google and Facebook in the region and the traction they’re gaining. Sounds like the same battle fought everywhere except China, perhaps. The AMJ writes, “Although search will still account for most of Asia’s online ad revenue for the foreseeable future, [Facebook’s and Google’s] swoops for a greater share of online display underscore key trends that are reshaping digital advertising.” Read the article extract.
Google Responds On Anti-Trust
Google doesn’t take anti-trust talk laying down. Responding to a Washington Post column by Steve Pearlstein, Google’s Don Harrison, Deputy General Counsel, responds, “Pearlstein writes that he has no problem with Google growing naturally, but that we shouldn’t be allowed to make acquisitions in new spaces. This isn’t how we — or most companies — approach these decisions. Sometimes it’s possible to develop a new product in-house; other times a company decides it can bring a new product to market faster by acquiring another company.” Read more on Google’s Public Policy blog.
Agency Baseball
Lotame CEO Andy Monfried pulls out some of his favorite baseball metaphors with a post on his personal blog called “High and Tight.” He wants agencies to demand more from their vendors and writes, “My hope for 2011 is that Agencies ask for more than a response to an RFP. Ask for more than the latest “out of the box idea” — ask from the publishing partners, more than ‘what’s your Comscore index/rating.'” Read more about he thinks agency “players” should be asking for.
You’re Hired!
33across announced that it has hired a Chief Scientist -namely, Adwait Ratnaparkhi who “will oversee all research and development related to the company’s proprietary social targeting platform.” Ratnaparkhi comes from Yahoo! Labs. Also, 33across announced that it has hired former Drop.io-er Scott Schwanbeck to drive biz dev. Read the release. Meanwhile, data company Clearspring announced that it has hired Peggy Fry as Chief Revenue Officer. According to the Clearspring release, “Fry is credited with launching the advertising monetization strategy at Netflix across both their offline/envelope and online businesses.” Read more.
